Harley and the Davidsons Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Harley and the Davidsons Blu-ray Movie Review

Sons of order.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 3, 2016

If any of you need a textbook example of geekdom (or at least a certain amount of cultural stupidity), I’m happy to offer myself as an example. My first visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, came courtesy of the fact that my wife was from there and I journeyed there for our impending nuptials. Having never been there before, and not especially cognizant of biker culture and/or history, I was surprised when we were driving around one day and drove past both the Harley Davidson headquarters and the Harley Davidson Museum, which are within a few blocks of each other in downtown Milwaukee, just a stone's throw or so from Lake Michigan. For those of you who are smart enough to know that Harley-Davidson got its start in Milwaukee but who might not be overly familiar with the outlines of the founding of the now iconic brand, Harley and the Davidsons provides good generalist information, even if there’s a feeling that things have been tweaked “for dramatic purposes” on more than one occasion. This Discovery miniseries is notable for its excellent production design, including the featuring of era appropriate motorcycles which, according to the brief making of featurette included on this Blu-ray set, had to be constructed from scratch for the production since the only extant versions of them currently reside in museums (like that aforementioned Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee).

While the physical trappings of Harley and the Davidson are spot on throughout this miniseries, there are some narrative hurdles the piece has to overcome, not the least of which is its kind of haphazard way of introducing its main characters. While it takes a while for uninitiated audience members to sort out who’s whom and how they relate to each other, the first vignette details Walter Davidson (Michiel Huisman) having to hand over his several thousand acre farm to the railroad courtesy of eminent domain. The miniseries then segues without much information to Milwaukee, where Walter’s younger brother Arthur (Bug Hall) and Arthur’s buddy Bill Harley (Robert Aramayo) are introduced, though it’s notable these characters are pretty much just plopped down and it’s left to the audience to figure out their history (even the fact that Arthur and Walter are brothers is kind of handled as an aside in some cursory comments by the Davidson family).

The first part of the miniseries details the efforts of Arthur and Bill to develop a motorized bicycle, though, again, the vignettes leave some elements either unexplained or at least not fully documented. For instance, when it’s shown that the two aren’t above purloining a few items at a foundry where Bill works, and that they’re preparing their first designs with help from some co-workers, I assumed the shed they put everything together in was on the foundry headquarters and that they were doing this “in secret”, per their use of the rest of the facilities. While information like this isn’t especially salient to the overall dramatic impact of Harley and the Davidsons, it tends to indicate a certain shorthand that the miniseries employs which is not always to the benefit of things being clearly delineated to the audience.

As is also mentioned briefly in the making of featurette included in this set, it’s often easy to think of an established and iconic brand like Harley- Davidson simply appearing fully formed, kind of like the motorcycle equivalent of Venus on the half shell. Where Harley and the Davidsons really excels in offering interesting information, at least in generalist brushstrokes, is the almost unbelievable series of hardships the company had to overcome to establish itself. While the early years were exciting if also fraught with occasional danger due to having to “prove” the product in intense racing conditions, a number of calamities including World War I and a patent infringement lawsuit intrude to keep “happily ever after” at bay. Later, just when it seems that things are on the upswing, the Great Depression comes crashing down and the company is once again on the precipice of extinction.

Ironically while the miniseries tends to deal in generalities some of the time, it also feels padded at three episodes and around six hours of running time. Certain elements like romantic subplots seem shoehorned into the proceedings, however accurate they may be, but they don’t really add much to the emotional resonance of the piece. The attempt to develop a "villain" of sorts with regard to a rival manufacturer also seems a little forced, especially when the miniseries resorts to Kum-ba-ya moments like having the a Harley-Davidson and Indian bike parked next to each other at a sad event. The arrival of both an African American and a female motorcycle aficionado may smack of demographic pandering as well, though the making of featurette avers everything is factually based.

This is an unusually handsomely mounted and directed piece, though, with huge sweeping crane and dolly shots and a real sense of history. A little more time spent actually delving into the characters in the early part of the story might have helped to pay some emotional dividends down the line, but fans of Harley-Davidson bikes may want to catch this simply for the chance to see so many vintage motorcycles in one place at one time.

Harley and the Davidsons Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Harley and the Davidsons is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. A lot of the production seems to have been shot on actual sets, instead of relentlessly greenscreened, and that gives the piece a feeling of physicality that's supported by excellent detail levels in things like the bikes' gears or even the splinters on the edge of a workbench. Several outdoor scenes boast very good to excellent depth of field and show no signs of instability on busy elements like foliage. The characters age quite a bit during the miniseries, and the makeup is quite well done. The palette is fairly varied, with some bright, summery moments contrasting with downright gray and gloomy sequences, but detail levels remain commendably high throughout. There are occasional very light dustings of noise and some brief macroblocking, but otherwise this is a solid looking presentation that really helps to highlight one of the miniseries' greatest strengths, its really beautiful production design.

Harley and the Davidsons Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Harley and the Davidsons is another Lionsgate release that lamentably only features lossy Dolby audio, and in this case insult is added to injury due to the fact that there's only a stereo mix. With all of the racing segments and roaring motorcycles that regularly maraud through this miniseries, calls for a surround track might be louder than usual. What's here sounds fine, if not especially forceful, but I'm downgrading the score as a firm believer that one of Blu-ray's selling points was lossless audio. At the very least a lossless stereo track should have been an option on this disc.

Harley and the Davidsons Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Harley and the Davidsons (1080p; 6:44) is a brief EPK with decent enough interviews.


• Biketacular (1080i; 40:37) is a special counting down the greatest motorcycles of all time. Guess who ends up in the Number 1 position?

Harley and the Davidsons Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite its over length and tendency to gloss over salient details, Harley and the Davidsons has some really interesting history to tell, and the production design, including the recreation of all the vintage motorcycles, is really quite impressive. Video on this release is generally fine, but lossy audio seems especially ill advised given the roaring opportunities this subject matter inherently provides.